LAME 3.98 Final (MP3 Encoder)

After nearly two years and eight beta builds, LAME 3.98 has gone final!

Any regular visitors I have know that I prefer the LAME encoder for creating MP3 files. If you're like me and you use Audiograbber (Exact Audio Copy is a good alternative, but is less intuitive), then the LAME encoder is absolutely essential if you want the highest quality. You can check out my posting Tutorial: Create MP3s Using Audiograbber with the LAME Encoder for more info on ripping CDs to MP3.

There is a thread over on the HydrogenAudio forums that discusses the changes in this new version. Basically, LAME now uses its own psychoacoustic model and has an improved variable bitrate routine. My preferred setting is --preset fast extreme (also shortened to -V0) and initial testing shows that bitrates with this setting have increased by an acceptable average of 4%. A few quick tests on my part show this to be true, with increases ranging from less than 1% to just under 9%.

As usual, the best place to grab the latest LAME compile is from RareWares. You can get the final 3.98 build (compiled with Intel Compiler 10.1) by clicking here.